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Dehydration Affects Mood, Not Just Motor Skills / November 23, 2009 /
News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service

Mild dehydration appears to affect mood and
cognitive ability of young athletes in addition to impacting physical
performance, according to a new ARS study. Click the image for more
information about it.

Dehydration Affects Mood, Not Just Motor Skills

Dehydration has long been known to
compromise physical performance. Now, a new study provides insight into the
effects of mild dehydration on young athletes, and possibly into the lives of
people too busy to consume enough water daily. The study was supported in part
by the Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) and a U.S. Army grant.

Athletes commonly lose between 2 and 4 percent of their body weight during
athletic practice. The researchers wanted to explore the effects of dehydration
on cognitionthe ability to use information to functionand mood.

About 30 male and female Tufts University students, with an average age of
20, participated in the study. When students were assigned to the
dehydration group, they were not given fluids during athletics.
When in the control condition, they were given water throughout athletics.

The participants weighed in before and after athletics to assess body water
loss. After athletic activity, participants underwent cognitive tests, which
included short-term memory and mood scales among others. The researchers found
that dehydration was associated with negative mood, including fatigue and
confusion, compared to the hydrated group.

The level of mild dehydration (losses of between 1 percent and 2 percent)
experienced among participants in the study could be compared to the mild
dehydration some people experience in their daily lives from drinking
insufficient amounts of water, according to authors.

ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This
research supports the USDA priority of improving nutrition and health.